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Going back into the cage

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Going back into the cage

Postby Trick or 'Tiel » Fri May 05, 2017 6:59 pm

Hello bird lovers! I've always had trouble getting Ducky back in his cage. He is very smart and knows when I'm about to put him away, and he flies away as soon as I get close to his cage. He will land on Bluebell's cage and refuse to step up (normally he has no problem stepping up) and bite my hand. If I manage to get him, he just flies away again and it becomes a big chase. No matter how much food is in the cage, he always prefers being out and with people. I really need some advice on how to get him back in, because sometimes it gets to the point where I have to grab him so he doesn't fly away and 'dump' him on his perch. I want him to like his cage and be happy to go inside, but of course he always loves to be out.
Trick or 'Tiel
Conure
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 124
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Cockatiel, Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Going back into the cage

Postby liz » Sat May 06, 2017 6:14 am

Have you tried scooping him and putting your thumbs on his wings.
He likes your cage better than his own.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
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Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Going back into the cage

Postby Trick or 'Tiel » Sat May 06, 2017 9:37 am

The point is, I don't want to use any force to get him back in his cage. This will just make things worse, he will know he is going to be forced into his cage and will just fly away before I even have the chance to grab him. I want him to just accept that he has to go in and I will be back later to take him out again. How can I make the cage seem inviting for him so he actually wants to go in? I've heard of some people using target training to target their birds back into their cages. Ducky is target trained, but I'm not sure the treats I give him for training — seeds — are motivating enough for him to go back in his cage. They work great for flight training and tricks outside of the cage, but maybe going in the cage and being locked up is a little too much for my birdie.
Trick or 'Tiel
Conure
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 124
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Cockatiel, Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Going back into the cage

Postby Pajarita » Sat May 06, 2017 11:01 am

:lol: You can never make a cage 'inviting' enough for any bird to actually choose to go back in! That's like saying that you can make a jail cell so cozy that prisoners want to go back in them - it's impossible.

But, what you can do is time his coming out and meals so he goes back in because he is hungry. I open my birds cages as soon as I uncover them in the am (5:45 am this time of the year) and I put them back in for their breakfast at around 8 am - they have no problem with this because they are hungry for it (they get their produce earlier but they are eager for their morning gloop) and some of them even go back in on their own as soon as I put the bowl with food in it. I always follow the same exact routine (every single day regardless of whether it's a week day, the weekend or a holiday) and I always say the same things so, when they hear the "LOOK LOOK LOOK! Que rica papa! MMMM Yummy yummy for the tummy!" and they all know this means they are getting their breakfast (I use a different phrase for their dinner). Then, after they eat their breakfast, I let them back out (at around 9 am) and they stay out until it's about 12:30 or 1 pm - again, they have no problem with this because, as far as they are concerned, it's time for their noon rest (this is a natural thing for them, the birds in the wild also stop for a while at noon). See what I mean? You need to utilize their natural biorhythms (time to eat, time to rest, etc) OR use a special treat that he would ONLY get when he goes back (like a favorite nut) or their dinner. If you are very consistent in the daily routine and always say the same thing, they all learn. I have a male/female amazon pair that lives in the birdroom and, during breeding season (like right now!), the male gets VERY protective of the hen and their nest so I keep them in a large double macaw cage when I am not in the birdroom or when people other than me are going to be going into the room but all I have to do is put their breakfast or diiner or a couple of nuts (I call all nuts 'peanuts' and they know what that means) at the bottom of their cage and tell them to go 'Home' and in they go without a single problem! Other things they can't resist is birdy bread and birdy cookies (they also know the words I use for them: "Pan" and "Cookie").

Teach your bird to target and step to a stick and, if you time it right, you should be able to make him step up to a stick and move him back into his cage for his meal or reward with no problem.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
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Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Going back into the cage

Postby Trick or 'Tiel » Sat May 06, 2017 10:34 pm

Well, my budgie likes her cage, she goes back in sometimes even when she's allowed out time, so she considers it her home and not a jail cell. For my tiel, should I take the food out at night so he's eager to go back in after being out and not having food in the morning? I usually put a limited amount of pellets in the cage for the whole day, but when he's done with that I don't give him any more. The gloop I put in his cage in the morning and he can eat as much as he wants during the day. I feed him produce for dinner, then leave it in his cage for the night, then take it out as I give him his gloop. The pellets I add the following night so he has it all night, then for the day, but he finishes the bowl of pellets sometime during the day. I give him seeds while he's out for training, but never in the cage because I want seeds to be a special treat. Is my feeding schedule good or should I change something so he will be eager to go in his cage? I take him out for a few hours in the morning, put him back in his cage at noon (he resists a lot when I do this), keep him in his cage for a while, then come back at around 5pm and spend some time with him, put him in his cage while we eat dinner, then I come back and spend a couple hours with him before going to bed. He has gotten better about going in his cage for bed, I think he's tired from being out all day, but he still resists. The problem is, I give him produce while he's out before bed and then train him so he earns his seeds, so he's not real hungry when I put him back for bed. I refill his pellet dish before bed and throw away any leftover gloop, but he's still not super eager because of eating while out. I really need help as I don't want the cage to become a negative experience for him.
Trick or 'Tiel
Conure
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 124
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Cockatiel, Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Going back into the cage

Postby Pajarita » Sun May 07, 2017 10:33 am

Well, I don't feed produce at night. They get their high protein only for dinner and this works for me because, during the winter, the nights are very long and, as the body takes longer to digest protein, they feel full for a longer period of time. It also works because, as they eat all their dinner (I make sure they have enough to fill their crop and a bit leftover in case they are hungrier than usual that day), they are always very hungry in the morning and eat all their produce - which they would not do if they had protein food available to them. I don't train them so I don't give them any high protein treats during the day except during the summer, when the days are very long and they get a nut or two (depends on the size of the bird) in the middle of the afternoon just to 'tide them over' until dinner (this time of the year, when we are 'in between' the very short days of the winter and the very long days of the summer, they get a piece of a birdy cookie or something like that). My birds get gloop and produce in the morning and for all day picking and the seed and/or nut dinner. But, if he is used to getting a reward when you train for tricks, you can use the same thing to train him to go back into his cage.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Going back into the cage

Postby Trick or 'Tiel » Sun May 07, 2017 11:50 am

Interesting. Ducky still eats the gloop very well even though he has pellets available during the day. I will try to target him into the cage and give him the same seed reward as used for training. Should I give him only gloop and produce in the morning and all day, then give him pellets only for dinner? What I did before was give him gloop in the morning like you do, leave it there during the day, then give him produce at night. He had pellets available for the first part of the day but finished it later on. He has gotten a lot better though, I just put him back in for his noon rest and he went in to drink water. Today I fed him gloop outside of his cage, which I don't usually do, so I was surprised when he went in easily and drank water, especially because the gloop is moist. Sometimes, I will give him gloop a second time at night with his produce if he finished the gloop in his cage, which I will stop doing because it makes it even harder for him to go back in his cage at night. He has access to pellets and produce overnight, but not gloop if I didn't give him a second serving. Should I take the food out at night so he's hungry in the morning?
Trick or 'Tiel
Conure
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 124
Number of Birds Owned: 2
Types of Birds Owned: Cockatiel, Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Going back into the cage

Postby liz » Mon May 08, 2017 6:30 am

If you have seen some of the videos on YouTube you have noticed the birds are out while their human is chopping veggies and fruit. They are let out as soon as their human wakes up and can fly around him/her until breakfast is ready. They go back to their cages as soon as the food goes in. Other than when you are spending quality time with them, the free play time before a meal gets them good exercise then a reason to go back to cage.

I have found, and it is the same for all my birds, that when given their seed at night they eat what they want then go back to their fruit and veggies. I take the perishable food away when they go to sleep. I don't take the seed food away from the Amazons until about 2 am. Rainbow gets hungry and finds his way in the dark to where the food is.

Since I have them on a strict low protein diet I can give them one cashew in the morning while I am chopping.
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liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Going back into the cage

Postby Pajarita » Mon May 08, 2017 10:13 am

When I had cockatiels, they followed the same diet schedule as all my other birds: gloop and raw produce for breakfast and all day picking and seed mix for dinner. In the morning, when dawn is barely breaking, I open their cages and take out both the water and the seed/nut mix. Then, when there is enough light for them to be flying around, I give them their raw produce and fresh water while I clean their cages and, about half an hour later, they get their gloop and go back into their cages to eat it. About 30 to 40 minutes after that, they are let out again until their noon rest - but some of them go back inside to much on something every now and then -and they go into anybody's cage and not necessarily their own, either.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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